The doors at Bottom Dollar Food opened at 8 a.m., but people started to line up around the building on East Seventh Street as early as Wednesday afternoon. They were eager to be among the first 200 customers to get a free reusable bag of groceries.

The discount grocery store adds approximately 40 jobs to the local economy, and many shoppers say they are thrilled to have it in their neighborhood.

"I either have to go to McKeesport or to Penn Hills. So literally, I come three blocks and I can even walk down the hill. It's a blessing for our town," said Brenda O'Neale.

"I was excited, because I've been to one before but it was far away," said Ada Lewis of Homestead. "But this is very close, so it's within walking distance."

"We've very often had customers asking us 'When are we coming to Homestead?' that actually live in the community and were going to our stores," operations director Nick Siniscalchi said.

As part of the grand opening festivities, Bottom Dollar Food donated $1,600 to Rainbow Kitchen in Homestead to support its food pantry. It will help feed approximately 130 households for a month.

Former Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch was there to discuss how his Best of the Batch Foundation has partnered with the store for the last two years to provide meals to needy families over the holidays.

"We were able to provide ham dinners for the families as well. And now we're looking at adding an additional 50 to 75 families that we can hopefully provide for," Batch said.

Photos: Bottom Dollar Food opens in Homestead

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Amber Nicotra

Bottom Dollar Food

Bottom Dollar Food opened its new Homestead location on Thursday morning.

MORE SIGNS FOR THIS PROJECT. 3 IT WAS CERTAINLY WORTH THE WAIT-- FOR THE NUMBER OF PITTSBURGHERS-- WHO STOOD IN LINE FOR HOURS-- TO BE THE FIRST TO SHOP AT A NEW GROCERY STORE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD!! AND-- AS ACTION NEWS REPORTER AMBER NICOTRA TELLS US TONIGHT-- THEY WERE REWARDED WITH FREE GROCERIES!! 3 3 3 3 3 THEY STOOD IN LINE NEARLY 24 HOURS BEFORE THE GRANDOPENING! WITH A CUT OF THE RIBBON---BOTTOM DOLLAR ON EAST SEVENTH STREET IN HOMESTEAD WAS OPEN FOR BUSINESS. SHOPPERS THRILLED TO HAVE A GROCERY STORE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD. 3 CELEBRATING ITS 3 OPENING...THE DISCOUNT GROCER DONATED 16-HUNDRED DOLLARS TO THE RAINBOW KITCHEN FOOD PANTRY. AND CHARLIE BATCH OF THE STEELRS WAS ON HAND TO DISCUSS HOW HIS "BEST OF THE BATCH" FOUNDATION HAS PARTNERED UP WITH THE STORE FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS TO PROVIDE MEALS TO NEEDY FAMILIES OVER THE HOLIDAYS. 3 ONCE INSIDE---SHOPPERS ROAMED THE AISLES LOADING UP. THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED SHOPPERS....LUCKY ENOUGH TO WALK OUT WITH BAGS OF FREE GROCERIES! AND IT'S NOT JUST THE DISCOUNTS FOR THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT ALSO NEW JOBS. THE STORE HAS EMPLOYEED ROUGHLY 45 PEOPLE. IN HOMESTEAD SIG 3